A Summer Blessing
by EmblemQueen
Summary: This is another IkexElincia story from me! It's just going to be a three-parter and unrelated to my fanfic Dawn of Darkness. Also, it won't go into my short story collection because I've decided to reserve that for DoD related stuff. Anyway, enjoy!
1. Part 1: At the Beach

A Summer Blessing

Part 1: At the Beach

The sun soared high in the sky, blazing fiercely on a warm summer day in the continent of Tellius. The skies were clear, the only clouds in sight being pushed out to sea on the balmy breeze. Two human figures were walking along a shoreline inside the borders of Crimea, one of the western nations. As they walked along the sandy beach, their hands locked together between them tenderly, the two, comprised of a man and a woman, sought out a location to relax away from the heavy burden of attention and work they shouldered back at home in Melior, Crimea's capital city. The man sighed as the two continued to walk on, the sun beating down on his tanned skin.

"Elincia, do we really need to do this? All this beach looks the same to me," the man complained. He sported a pair of swim trunks bearing nearly the same color as his unruly blue hair, which did little to conceal his powerful muscles and jaw-dropping physique.

"Yes, we have to. The spot I told you about earlier shouldn't be much farther anyway," Elincia replied insistently. "You simply must see the two palm trees that bend into a heart shape, Ike!"

"I know, I know, you've mentioned it a thousand times," Ike exaggerated with a chuckle, recalling Elincia practically bouncing up and down about some unnamed coastal landmark she'd recently heard about. "I'm just getting tired of walking so much in this heat. At this rate, I'll be soaked before I even go near the water." The azure haired man brought a towel he held in his arms to his forehead and wiped away a little sweat. Well, it was a little by his standards; anybody else would say he was sweating by the gallon.

"Don't be silly. It's not that bad," Elincia scolded amusingly, letting the sun beat down on her somewhat pale skin and melon-colored two piece swimsuit which offered quite a view of her shapely limbs and delicate, feminine curves.

"Are you kidding? This is worse than the royal kitchen at dinner time," Ike protested. Elincia couldn't help but giggle.

"I should have known you'd say something food-related," she teased. "I swear, if you didn't exercise like you do, we wouldn't be able to fit you through the portcullis." Ike couldn't help but let the color of his cheeks fade to a rosy pink. He'd forgotten how famous his big appetite was.

"W-well that was the best thing I could think of," Ike quickly replied. "Besides, that's coming from the same woman who wolfed down three servings of marinated salmon each with a bowl of caviar just last week."

Ever since Ike found out that Elincia was every bit as fond of fish as he was of red meat, he'd tried to use that information to turn Elincia's teasing back against her. From the smug look on her face, it wasn't working.

"I was hungry," Elincia responded simply, doing an amusing imitation of Ike's deeper tone. "Besides, I'd just spent eight _hours_ straight negotiating with Micaiah on drafting and signing a dozen new trade agreements. I was within my rights to treat myself."

Here, Ike could not disagree. Micaiah, who was now Queen of Daein, had proven to be a sharp and disagreeable negotiator in securing resources to rebuild her country. Her stubbornness and refusal to settle for anything less than success had made her a capable ruler for Daein and a migraine for everybody else.

"Well, that retort sounded better in my head," Ike replied feebly.

"Sure it did," Elincia teased with another giggle. "…Hey, just a minute. When were you ever in the royal kitchen around dinner?" Ike's pink cheeks grew redder by the second as his eyes bulged wide with nervousness, realizing he'd just blundered terribly.

"Well, I…uh…I…" he began, but couldn't form a sentence.

"Aha! So you _were_ the one who smuggled the last few chicken legs the other day, weren't you?" Elincia guessed. Ike couldn't help but put a guilty smile on his embarrassed facial expression as he recalled dinner from two days before. It had been a delicious meal of chicken seasoned with peppers and garlic along with salads and biscuits cooked by Oscar, one of Crimea's Royal Knights. He had been known for his superb cooking skills, and Ike could hardly resist gobbling down what remained of the bird Oscar cooked when the leftovers were taken back to the kitchen. Originally, they were going to be saved for a romantic dinner for two the next day.

"Yeah. I couldn't help myself. They were so delicious!" Ike admitted. "But we still figured out something for our dinner plan the next day, right?"

"Well, that's true and it was again delicious," Elincia agreed. "…Hey! There's the place!" She suddenly broke into a run in a new direction as Ike found himself being yanked along behind her.

"Uh, hey! I'm coming, I'm coming!" he replied, taken by surprise. Elincia led him to an area not so far from where the ocean's waves ended. She had been right about the area all along. The romantic atmosphere given off by the pair of palm trees slanted so they created a sort of heart shape was indeed all around. Their trunks served as the heart's pointed end while the large leaves at the top made up most of the two rounded curves. Beyond the trees was a breathtaking cove, the waters blue and clear with a crystalline appearance, with beautiful coral winding its way across every rock. Through the 'Heart,' Ike could see a small island overgrown with wildflowers and, he suspected, the trees would perfectly frame the setting sun. Not that Ike minded waiting for such a sight, of course. Elincia gleefully tossed down her towel down into the soft sand below and smiled. Ike looked around at his surroundings before following her example.

"I've gotta hand it to you, Elincia," he commented. "This _is_ quite romantic."

"See? I told you so," Elincia replied with a wink. Ike laid his towel next to Elincia's and sat down beside her.

"You certainly did," Ike agreed, a soft smile forming on his face. "I'm glad we came here."

"So am I, of course," Elincia seconded, moving closer to Ike and letting her head rest upon his broad shoulder. Ike let his hand navigate around her waist and continued smiling.

"I just want you to be as happy as possible," Ike replied. "Because I love you."

"As do I, Ike. You're the only man I'll ever love," Elincia assured him, letting her hand roam Ike's muscular torso. His powerful arms and patched stomach shown in the bright sunlight as much as his broad chest and shoulders. Any girl would agree for sure that Ike was very handsome, and it shown whenever one began to flirt with him. It had happened a few times during the Mad King's War over three years before and continued from time to time. As a result, whenever Ike was seen shirtless, the girls would be close to fainting and those that weren't would probably fake it on the off-chance he'd help them up. When Ike had had enough, he politely (by his standards) informed them that he was married and the wailing girls nearly caused a flash flood. It somewhat embarrassed the young warrior, not to mention caused the fathers of the aforementioned girls to start claiming that being heart-broken by the Queen's husband was grounds for a tax deferment, causing it to take Elincia some effort to convince him to take a trip to the beach. She didn't doubt Ike's fidelity for a minute, but she was getting sick of an army of girls being the only opponent the great hero Ike was unable to defeat.

"And the only woman for me is sitting right here," Ike added. Elincia's cheeks turned rosy upon hearing those words. Before Ike knew it, he was being tackled in the sand by Elincia's strength as a pair of lips touched his own. The two stayed locked in their romantic kiss for moments on in as Ike's arms squeezed Elincia's torso while her own clutched his neck. Ike, briefly pulling away from the lip lock, swept in to lavish Elincia's neck and collarbone with kisses while his fingers soothingly caressed her hip and waist. Elincia, not to be outdone, let her hands glide over Ike's sides and shoulders while nuzzling her cheek against his and relishing the rough texture of his stubble.

"Trying to grow an extra set of quills, hedgehog?" she teased.

Ike snickered at one of the pet names she'd given him, the other one being My Lord Ike, after he'd called himself a hedgehog when he mulled aloud over the prospect of getting a haircut. For some reason, which Ike doubted he could make sense of, the nickname got him to drop the idea.

But, this didn't stop him from flipping over to pin Elincia under him and lean in to whisper into her ear "I can still make you hit the high notes, dove."

Despite Elincia blushing at the near-innuendo, she rose to catch his lips with hers once more. From that moment on, things felt perfect, as if none of the relentless demands and annoyances of their many duties back home, or anything else for that matter, could possibly disrupt this happy moment. Elincia, without even realizing, eventually had begun sliding her fingers back and forth along Ike's upper back, causing him to suddenly break away from their lip lock. He glanced as far behind him as he could see and then returned his gaze to Elincia.

"H-Hey, that tickled," he entreated with a chuckle. "Watch it, will you?" Elincia simply giggled, figuring Ike must be quite ticklish.

"Hee hee."

"…Uh oh."

On the instant, Elincia rolled on top of Ike and attacked him in several areas with her tickling fingers, including his neck, torso, and arms. Ike continuously squirmed and moved around in the sand, unable to stop laughing and chuckling.

"S-stop it! C'mon, Elincia! Hahaha, cut it out!" Ike cried. His eyes soon began to water due to his uncontrollable laughter. Elincia was having too much fun to stop now. She shifted her body ever so happily to keep Ike in her grasp as she continued with her tickling. Ike kept trying to pull away, but the tickling was too intense. He simply lay there laughing and dealing with fingers moving about his muscle-rippled body. Elincia, however, wasn't noticing exactly where she and Ike were moving their legs and had seconds later let her left knee collide with his groin area. Ike's laughing face instantly transformed into a heavy grimace of pain and his laughter was suddenly choked away into a strained groan of agony.

"Okay…that's crossing the line…" he gasped, gritting his teeth as Elincia suddenly halted her tickling. Ike clutched his crotch, having been kneed rather hard.

"Oh! Goodness me! I'm so sorry, Ike!" Elincia cried, cupping her mouth with her hands.

"Errrg…I know…you didn't mean it…" Ike wheezed in reply, still in a lot of pain, but was able to bear it.

"Yeah, but that really had to hurt," Elincia pointed out.

"True, but it showed me something," Ike replied, the words coming out clearer as the pain subsided, as the two sat back up upon their towels. "I think you've gotten a little stronger."

"Really? You mean I've somehow gotten stronger while sitting in stuffy conference rooms negotiating treaties from sunup to sundown?"

"Exactly. I don't remember being tackled and hit like that by a woman before," Ike replied. "What, you been arm wrestling with the delegates or something?"

"Hee hee. I guess you're a good trainer."

"I must be. Unless you have training sessions I don't know about with Geoffrey or someone else at the castle that is," Ike teased with a sarcastic smile.

"You're terrible, Ike! He's a lancer and you know you're the only swordsman over there that I can train with," Elincia replied, letting her head rest upon Ike's shoulder once more.

"What about Lucia and Makalov? They use swords too, you know," Ike pointed out. "Lord Renning does as well."

"Lucia's been spending too much time with my uncle," Elincia countered. "And you must be crazy to think I'd train with Makalov."

"Haha, true, I don't think he'd be very reliable. Besides, having debt collectors barge in on the sessions would get old fast."

"Agreed. And that leaves my handsome husband," Elincia concluded. "Speaking of which, I'll never forget the scene you made as I was walking down the aisle during our wedding."

"Aw, really, do you have to bring _that_ up?" Ike groaned. "It wasn't my fault I got stuck in clothes that itched in so many places."

"Yeah, but did you have to make it look so obvious?" Elincia replied, laughing as she and Ike recalled the day of their wedding. After the war against the goddess Ashera had ended, Ike's plan was to leave Tellius. Why this was, even Ike himself could not say. Perhaps, after seeing how different Ashera was from the legends, not the smallest difference being she could actually be defeated by mortals, he was curious about whether or not the other continents were truly destroyed. Possibly, with how irrevocably his life had changed since the Mad King's War, he sought some direction or new challenge in his life. Or, maybe with the gap between the Beorc and Laguz finally bridged, Ike felt he had accomplished all he could on Tellius. The reason, however, did not matter, for Elincia had convinced him to stay at the last minute. The two soon couldn't deny their love for one another. Although Ike and Elincia had originally wanted a simple wedding with fairly small group of friends and family, nothing big or fancy, Renning and Geoffrey had somehow managed to circulate enough invitations for dozens of guests as a surprise. The grand event took place inside the great cathedral in Melior, and every single seat available inside had been filled. Every member of Ike's mercenary company, the Greil Mercenaries, had attended, even Shinon, who had held a big grudge against his commander ever since Ike first joined and was forced inside upon Titania's lecturing. Laguz from Gallia, Phoenicis, Serenes Forest, and even Kilvas also filled the pews. Beorc from not only Crimea and Begnion, but also Daein had joined the guest list.

Ike had taken his place at the end of the long aisle near where the priest would speak and let him and Elincia give their vows, Ranulf standing beside him as his best man. He had been forced to don a prince-like outfit comprised of a long midnight-colored cape, formal pants and boots, and a shoulder padded shirt bisected by a violet sash heavy with two medals awarded to him for his deeds. Apart from the cape and sash, most of the outfit was white or gray. Ike had desperately succeeded, albeit barely, in ignoring the itching that was starting to bother him around the shoulders and neck of the shirt he had been wearing and the irritating heaviness of the medals while watching friends and family make their way down the aisle first. Lucia and Renning came first, both garbed in the most formal clothes they had. Upon reaching the end, Lucia took her place as Elincia's maid of honor. Following came Boyd and Mia, Geoffrey and Nephenee, Oscar and Tanith, and lastly Rhys and Titania. Rolf and Mist, as the ring bearer and flower girl respectively, took their turn after.

Ike had glanced around quickly to get a look at his friends and comrade, fellow mercenaries, and otherwise. As bridesmaids, Mia, Nephenee, Tanith, and Titania all looked as beautiful as ever in their elegant dresses. Seeing Titania in a dress had been a bit of a surprise as Ike had half-expected her to wear ceremonial armor instead; he suspected she might've been wearing armor beneath the dress but knew better than to ask. It had also been interesting to see Boyd in formal clothes since Ike had never seen him in anything more formal than his leather armor and breeches. Oscar stood as calmly as ever in his own formal outfit, being a man who was good at keeping his cool. It was rather funny how he and Tanith, who had quite the strict and less-than-calm personality, managed to get together. Opposites really do attract, Ike concluded. Mist, his younger sister, and Rolf were both as adorable as ever with the basket of flowers and pillow containing the wedding rings. Geoffrey, although he claimed to have never been in love with Elincia before, still looked ill at ease and occasionally cast near invisible glares in Ike's direction. Ike always thought he once did have something for the queen, despite his protestations to the contrary. Nephenee just ignored it, her own love for the commander of Crimea's Royal Knights being too much to think of anything else.

Just when Ike had thought Elincia would be finally making her trip down, another pair had emerged into the church. It was Kieran and Marcia, hopefully the final set of bridesmaid and groomsman. The two were a funny couple, since it was surprising how Marcia never minded helping to treat Kieran's self-created injuries during training. At the same time, Kieran had sometimes cut down his training sessions to spend time with her. Apart from things being a bit out of order in who came down the aisle as well as his increasingly itchy shirt and heavy medals, the only tense scene that had happened so far had to be Soren's complaining that he didn't get to be best man prior to the wedding. As many times as Ike had to explain people thought Soren looked too feminine, the tactician of the Greil Mercenaries just wouldn't choke it down.

Ike had glanced around the church's filled up pews once again while awaiting Elincia's appearance, spotting old allies including Makalov, Astrid, Devdan, Callil, Largo, their daughter Amy, Gatrie, Shinon, Brom, Zihark, Ilyana, Jill, Haar, Queen Micaiah's consort Sothe (who Ike, for the longest time, could not understand how he could deal with such a rank at his age), Empress Sanaki, her consort Tormod, and laguz friends such as King Tibarn of the hawks, King Caineghis of the beast tribe and his nephew, Skrimir, beast allies Muarim, Lethe, Lyre, Kyza, and Mordecai, the heron royals, Reyson, Leanne, and Rafiel, and raven laguz Vika. The only ones they knew who weren't present were Queen Nailah of Hatari, her servant, Volug, and King Naesala, the raven tribe ruler, and that was no surprise since he always kept to himself. Nailah and Volug were much too unused to crowds and chose to sit out.

Sothe wanted the Dawn Brigade members and Micaiah to attend as well, but they decided to look after things in Daein. However, Sothe suspected Micaiah still held some kind of grudge against Ike for whatever reason. Bastian, similarly, looked after Castle Crimea while Sigrun did likewise at Mainal Cathedral in Begnion. Caineghis's shadow, Giffca, was doing the same in Gallia, and so on. The members of the Dragon tribe of Goldoa wished to come as well, but they had to prepare for the funeral of Dheginsea, their previous king as well as the coronation of his son, Kurthnaga. The one group of people Ike was glad not to see present was the merchant caravan that had traveled with his group in both wars. If Aimee the shop girl had been there, Ike could easily predict an even more annoying scene than Soren's due to the long time crush she had on him. He decided he shouldn't be surprised at the massive guest list after all since honestly, who wouldn't want to witness a wedding between the savior of Tellius and the queen of Crimea? It was practically the wedding of the century, hopefully with a reception to match.

Just as Ike had finished seeking familiar faces in the crowd, and discovering that it didn't alleviate the itching, the moment came. Elincia was finally standing at the doorway in front of the aisle, and began to slowly walk through. Her beauty had been nearly too much for Ike to take in. Part of her hair had been put up into a bun on the back of her head while the rest had been woven into braids that draped over either pal shoulder. Her dress was broad and white, with sparkling jewels and lovely embroidery at every level. Her sleeves rose up to her shoulders and cut off there. A long transparent veil flowed behind as she continued to walk. She held a beautiful bouquet of flowers, comprised of white roses, daisies, and more. Ike felt as if he would faint right on the spot, when suddenly his shirt began to grow even itchier than before. Trying ever so hard to ignore it and not make a disruption, Ike secretly gritted his teeth as Elincia approached the end of the aisle. Still, he soon was unable to take it anymore and had tried to scratch without drawing any attention. However, as hard as it had been, Ike had started bending slightly backwards in order to reach where the itching progressed, and ended up moving too fast. The result was a topple to the floor, right on the small steps Elincia had begun walking up. Ike blamed the heavy medals, but nobody believed him.

_"Augh!"_ Ike bellowed, echoing through the whole church. Taking the pain as well as he could, he quickly scrambled to his feet again, having heavily embarrassed himself and clearly Elincia as well, who now had an annoyed expression on her face. The priest, though slightly amused, seemed almost sympathetic.

"If it makes you feel better, I did worse on my wedding day," he offered, but Ike was simply too mortified to appreciate the reassurance.

Somehow, the ceremony got back on track and the priest began to speak.

"_On this historic day of great joy in Crimea,"_ he began, trying not to give even the slightest hint about Ike's flub making this day all the more historical. _"We are gathered in the sight of Ashunera and the presence of these witnesses to witness the union of Queen Elincia Ridell Crimea and Sir Ike, famed hero of Tellius and commander of the Greil Mercenaries . If anyone present can show good cause why these two should not wed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."_

Out of the corner of his eye, Ike saw Geoffrey tense but, with one hand to his shoulder, Nephenee calmed him. Ike could even swear he saw the barest hint of a smile on Geoffrey's face.

"_Who gives this bride to be wed?"_ the priest requested.

"_Elincia has been like a daughter to me since she was born,"_ Renning replied. _"I willingly give her hand in wedlock."_

"_Who will speak for the groom?"_ the priest inquired.

"_I will,"_ Titania spoke up. _"Ike has been like a son to me for many years. I acknowledge his wedding to Elincia with a glad heart and sanction this union."_

Later on, after the vows were said, the rings put on their fingers and the ceremony had finally ended, Elincia had pulled Ike aside outside the cathedral.

_"Ike! What's the matter with you?"_ she demanded. _"Why'd you have to create an episode in there?"_

"_I really don't know! I'm so sorry!"_ Ike had apologized. He explained the problem with his itchy shirt, how he could no longer ignore it, and how it and all those medals had caused him to lose his balance. Everyone had tried hard not to laugh, he could tell, but after that incident, everything else had gone smoothly. Ike and Elincia said their vows, exchanged rings, and kissed. Since then, Ike had tried to put it behind him.

"Yeah, I suppose I could have," Ike finally replied. "But it was so hard. I wasn't exactly used to those boots I had to wear either."

"Well, I guess next time we do something formal, we'll have to make sure you're in clothes that don't make you have to reach behind yourself," Elincia suggested with a giggle. Ike simply rolled his eyes.

"Let's get in the water now," he insisted, changing the subject. "I'm much too hot to sit here any longer."

"I have to agree. You'd be much better looking in the water," Elincia replied, giggling at her own joke.

"Huh? …Ohhh, very funny," Ike huffed, folding his arms and taking a moment to get what Elincia was joking about.

"Hee hee. You _are_ very handsome, though." Elincia complimented as the two stood up to get in the ocean waves. "I think any girl would agree."

"Yeah, I haven't met a single one who hasn't given me some indication that they think I have good looks," Ike admitted. "Be it the way they speak, what they say, or even telling me right out. I'm just glad that's _all_ they did." Elincia simply hurled a fistful of water in Ike's face as they had stepped a few feet deep in the water.

"Oh stop it. You can at least try to befriend them," Elincia pointed out.

"I think I have enough female friends."

"I think you've run away from Aimee too much."

"Aw come on, don't ruin my fun by bringing _her_ up."

During both the Mad King's War and the war against Ashera, Ike had to put up with Aimee and her constant praise and continuous flirting with him. Ike kept trying to avoid her, but all he could do was use Soren as a shield of sorts. And even then, Aimee never stopped calling Ike "handsome" or some other pet name. Soren never made things much better himself either, having let Aimee in on food being a good way to get Ike's attention and even teased him at times with how he'd profited through leading Aimee around by the nose.

"Oh, alright, but I still think you ran away too much," Elincia replied.

"Well, what else was I suppose to do? Let her hound me?" Ike wondered. "She certainly wouldn't let Gatrie go after her." He recalled how Gatrie had always been a womanizer, but Aimee was too busy chasing Ike to pay any attention to him.

"Good point." With that, Elincia giggled and sent more sea foam into Ike's face which, naturally, caused a splash fight between the couple. Within minutes, they were laughing and playing in the shallow waves of the Crimean sea, gradually moving deeper into the water until it was about neck deep for Elincia and reached just above Ike's chest. Almost without warning, Ike dove beneath the waves and almost seemed to disappear. Before she could react, Elincia felt herself being pulled under as well by Ike's strong grip. Ike grabbed her by her waistline and pleasantly locked lips with Elincia in a romantic underwater kiss. Although she endured it for the time the pair was underwater with their tongues lancing into each other's mouths, Elincia felt a stirring pain in her stomach. Of course, Ike always caused butterflies to stir in her stomach but this felt more like crows trying to peck their way out and that was almost nauseating. Seconds later, the annoying need for air arose and the couple quickly emerged out of the waves in shallower water. Ike smiled as his mop of unruly blue hair was now a soaked dark blue mess that nearly covered his eyes and enveloped half of his head. Elincia couldn't resist laughing at her husband's new hairdo.

"Hee hee, who knew someone as blunt as you could be so funny?" she asked rhetorically.

"Hey, all the better to keep my wife happy," Ike commented with a wink. "And besides that, my hair is uncontrollable."

"Like that matters?" Elincia replied, moving closer to Ike. "You're very handsome whether you have a spiky blue mop on top or a wet dark blue mat covering your head." By now, Ike's cheeks were flushed in a rosy red despite the chilly water.

"Heh, why thank you," he replied, trying to hide his slight embarrassment. Before Elincia could get in another word, however, her stomach seemed to convulse violently. She finally couldn't bear it and allowed her facial expression to turn into a grimace as she felt something slimy climb her throat and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oooh…" she groaned.

"Are you alright?" Ike wondered in great concern. "What's the matter?"

"I don't feel so…urp…well," Elincia admitted, bringing a hand to her abdomen. Before Ike could say anything more on the matter, Elincia suddenly whirled around, bent over towards the water, and emptied the contents of her stomach. Ike grimaced upon hearing the splash in the water and once Elincia turned around once more to face him, the sight behind her was a blob of exotic green, orange, yellow, and brown colors mixing with the blue of the seawater before the lapping waves obliterated it. Ike gulped before speaking, hoping he wouldn't soon perform a replay out of disgust.

"Okay, I think we'd better get you back to the castle," he suggested in a rather nervous tone, urging Elincia out of the waves and back onto shore.

"Yeah… Good idea," she agreed without hesitation. After they retrieved their towels and dried off as much as possible, Ike flung his towel over his shoulder while Elincia's remained around her body. He carefully wrapped his arm around her waist and led her away from the beach. Ike hoped Elincia wasn't getting seriously ill, the two of them had to pull quite a few strings to get some time off and it would be awful if Elincia spent her hard earned vacation in the sickbed. Ike shook it off, deciding she'd just been working too hard or that one of the delegations she'd be dealing with must've given her a bug. Even so, Ike knew it was best to remain positive and decided to keep an eye on her anyway once they reached their home. Within minutes, the two approached a horse tied to a tree which they had left to graze while spending their time in the waves. Ike helped Elincia mount first after untying the horse's reins and made his ascent afterwards. He gripped the reins tightly and warned Elincia to hold on just as much.

"Are you still feeling sick?" he inquired as they galloped off.

"Yeah, kind of…" Elincia replied, grasping her stomach with one hand again.

"I'd say the prime suspect is the caviar," Ike suggested, trying to cheer her up and chuckling at her cutely irritated expression. "No, seriously. That stuff is so salty, that the one time you conned me into trying it, I nearly died of thirst."

"Ike has discovered something he _doesn't_ want to eat? The impossible has happened!" Elincia joked in turn before grasping her stomach again. "But yeah, let's hurry, just in case...you know."

"You can count on it."


	2. Part 2: A Delaying Vacation

Part 2: A Delaying Vacation

"Boy, I'm sure glad we decided to take a horse instead of your Pegasus," Ike commented as he and Elincia had begun their journey back to Castle Crimea. "Though your Pegasus would have been faster, I'd have been worried about you falling off from being sick."

"Yeah. As I said at the castle, though, Gwydion might not be strong enough to carry two people anymore," Elincia reminded Ike. "He was used by my great grandmother after all, so he's very old."

"Very true. I'm also glad it'll still be daylight for quite awhile. Imagine having to take a trip like this in the dark."

"Oh wow, I can't…"

"Exactly."

"Then I'm almost glad I _did_ get sick. Otherwise, we might have wanted to stay at the beach longer than we intended."

"Yeah, considering how much fun we were having back there, that could've easily happened."

"And it didn't, so what should we be worried about? The worst that can happen is our trip home being delayed for whatever reason."

"Heh, indeed."

With that, a long silence crept over the couple as the horse gradually brought them farther away from the cove. Ike made sure the horse's pace remained slow and steady for Elincia's sake, as going fast would likely worsen her condition. Still, Ike could not help but continue to ponder about the situation. What exactly caused her to feel sick in the first place? One minute she was fine and splashing with him in the clear water of the cove, and the next, she's emptying her stomach. Hopefully, it wasn't anything potentially serious, such as the flu. It was certainly possible that Elincia had simply gotten sick from working too hard. She's had her hands full with the reconstruction and political reconciliations following the Goddess War, chairing conferences with other monarchs and overseeing rebuilding efforts day in and day out and she may have just gotten ill from all the strain.

That was, after all, the whole point of taking her on this vacation.

Perhaps it was merely something she ate as Ike still suspected that the caviar Elincia was so fond of was likely the culprit. Some foods don't mix together very well in the stomach, and Ike learned that the hard way thanks to his own infamous eating habits. He once snacked on an apple while taking a break from working to rebuild Crimea after the Mad King's War, and not long after, bought a cream filled roll he happened to see in a bakery by chance. Before he knew it, he was puking his guts out right in public. It was quite an embarrassment, and even thinking of it now made him feel not only a little sick himself, but embarrassed once again.

Trying hard to put the memory out of his mind, Ike turned his attention to reaching Castle Crimea and getting Elincia there safely before she could possibly become sick again. If that were to happen, it would worry Ike further, as well as perhaps irritate the horse, seeing as Elincia was sitting in front of Ike where the animal's head was within puking range. He didn't think anything would enjoy being covered in disgusting stomach contents, and he _really_ didn't want to take the chance the animal would be spooked and throw them from the saddle. All Ike had to do was maintain the slow pace and hope nothing waylaid them. It would be close, but he was sure their slow-but-steady pace would get them back to the castle before dark. However, they had to cross a fairly low, but rocky mountain range to reach the castle, one that was known to have occasional rockslides. And to their displeasure, they weren't far into the mountain trail when Ike was forced to bring the horse to a halt. His mouth dropped open once he laid eyes on the scene before him.

"Aw, this is just terrific. Our only path is blocked by a rockslide!"

"A-Actually, Ike, I think this is a _land_slide. There's mud and plants in this too."

"What? Crud, you're right," Ike realized as his eye began to twitch and his teeth gritted.

"Oh dear…"

"Damn it! Elincia, were you absolutely sure when you said this was the only path connecting Melior to the northern coastline?"

"It's the only one I or anyone else at the castle knows of. These mountains are lower and less rugged than those that separate Crimea from Begnion, but they're still rocky and when paths get blocked by rockslides, it takes a long time for workers to reopen them. Due to how fairly frequently they occur, the few existing paths are all closed now."

"Oh yeah… And on top of that, the fact that it's hard to cross these mountains in the first place provides Melior with a natural defense against a northern sea invasion."

"Exactly. But still, landslides are a completely different story. I've heard they rarely happen here. This is the first time I've ever seen the results of one."

"Same here. …Hey, wait a second!"

"What's wrong?"

"This is all _your_ fault! You jinxed us!"

"What?"

"Don't you remember what you said earlier?"

"Oh…yeah… But who says I believe in that silly stuff?"

"No one, but I do, and this sure proves it happens!"

"This could just be mere coincidence! One incident doesn't prove anything!"

"I guess, but arguing isn't going to get us anywhere either. Come on, we're going to be stuck over here for awhile, so let's find some shelter. I spotted a little cave up on the other fork not far back that should work just fine. It appears to be high enough for the horse to enter as well, though we'd have to dismount first."

"Alright then. I suppose it's the only thing we can do."

With that, Ike guided the horse back down the path until they reached the fork in the road they passed earlier. As he had said, a small cave opening was situated right where it could overlook the path that was supposed to lead them home. And, the view confirmed the couple's worst fear; the path was, indeed, impassable and would likely stay that way for some time. This did not sit well with Ike since, as Elincia had told him earlier, that path was the only one connecting the coastline to Melior. There might be other paths leading back inland, but Ike had no idea where they were. And, even if he did, there was no guarantee they remained open with the frequent landslides or that they would lead them to food or shelter. They were trapped.

Ike made a fist and grimaced to himself as they approached the cave. _Damn it! Why us? Geoffrey and the others are going to go crazy when they notice we're still gone later! _Ike thought to himself, his frustration at the problem peaking. _But ah, I suppose they'll send someone to find us and lead us home at that point. It's really the only way we'll be getting anywhere. I just hope we can grit our teeth and bear it for however long it takes._ Ike sighed as he dismounted the horse at the cave's entrance and helped Elincia do the same afterwards. As the pair led the animal inside, Elincia shot Ike a smile.

"Hey Ike… You know, if what you said about it is true, you jinxed us too then."

"What are you talking about?" Ike blurted confusedly, raising one eyebrow.

"Considering the time, we'll likely be here after dark and traveling back home in the dark. Sound familiar, Mister Jinxing-Does-Happen?"

"Uh…"

At this point, Ike had no idea how to reply. His cheeks soon went pink.

"I thought so." Elincia couldn't get rid of the punchy smile on her face.

"Okay, okay. You've got me there. Still, we need to figure out how we're going to get back to the castle. Are you sure there aren't any other routes leading inland?"

"None that I know if, sorry. I suppose we could try riding until we find one. But, I'd probably slow you down, unless –"

"Don't even think about it. I'm not leaving you here alone. We could just wait; you _did_ say that workers are always up here clearing the rockslides. But, even if they're already at it, it could be hours before we're able to reach the castle again."

"Sigh… How I wish that weren't true. But someone has to find us."

"Either that or we find someone ourselves, which is unlikely, because with the path blocked, there won't be anyone coming here until it's clear. And I doubt there's many people nearby on this side of the mountain."

"Then how will anyone find us? The only thing I can think of is sending some sort of signal so that someone nearby might realize we're here, but how would we do that? And even if we did signal someone, how would they get here?"

"Good point. They probably couldn't until the path is clear or if they know another way in…if there is one. Which leaves us right back where we started. This is so frustrating…"

"And there seems to be no solution either…"

"Yeah, even a Pegasus couldn't get here due to the fact that they'd have to know of our situation first."

"True, which means there's no way to tell Marcia…"

Ike sighed once more as a silence fell over them once more. After tying the horse to the rugged wall of the cave, he turned around to set down the bag he was carrying at his side. Inside were several items packed for his and Elincia's mini vacation, such as his towel, a shirt to put on if needed, and even some food in case the pair grew hungry. It also hadn't hurt to bring a lantern along in the event they did end up traveling in the dark. Ike glanced over the meager supplies and felt his worry deepen; even if he did the unthinkable and constrained his food intake, they likely didn't have enough to last them for long.

"Well," he mused aloud. "Father did give me a crash course on living off the trail. I doubt there's much to hunt here but I could probably catch some fish or forage if I have to."

Ike began pacing as he tried to recall his father's lessons; he hadn't exactly needed them while living in Castle Crimea, after all, and he was a bit out of practice. However, he hadn't taken more than a few more steps when he suddenly felt the ground give away from under him. Ike gasped as he plunged downward and didn't have a chance to scream before hitting the bottom of the pit.

"Augh! Ow…"

"Ike! Are you alright?" Elincia cried, rushing over to the edge.

"Yeah. Don't worry, it's not deep. This gives me an idea though."

"Huh?"

"If we could somehow fill this up with water, we'd have ourselves a little swimming pool."

Elincia blinked down at him for a moment, seemingly bemused, and then let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, but where are we going to get that much water? And even if we did find enough, how can we carry it?"

"…Good question. Oh well, one can dream." With that, Ike stood up and brushed himself off. Before he could begin climbing out of the pit, however, Elincia gasped and pointed a finger at a large crack in the rocky floor of the pit.

"Hey, wait! Look!"

Ike turned to where she was pointing. Water suddenly burst out of the crack, creating an effect similar to that of a fountain.

"Well, how about that?" Ike mused, his eyes widening slightly. "Talk about dumb luck. I guess the impact of me falling jolted this open."

"Where's the water coming from, though?" Elincia wondered aloud, bringing her hand to her chin.

"It must be flowing underneath the cave. …Of course!" Ike exclaimed as he snapped his fingers. "That small pond in the woods down below! We passed it on our way to the cove and it ran under these hills. Maybe the water used to flow into here, like a basin, but was sealed off when the rocks shifted. So you might say we sprung a leak."

"Oh! I see. That does make sense. We'll have to plug it up with a rock or something to keep it from overflowing after it fills up though. I don't want to get flooded out of our only shelter."

Ike climbed his way out of the pit before responding.

"Yeah. It'll start getting cold later on, so I'll go collect some wood for a fire. The lantern I have could be used instead, but we should conserve the oil in case we do have to travel by night after all."

"Good idea. I'll wait here while the pit fills up. Also, Ike, I'm hungry now because…well, you can probably guess why. Mind if we eat our food too? It's well past lunch time now anyway."

"I suppose. Just don't eat it too quickly in case you actually are catching the flu or something."

Elincia nodded her acquiesce as Ike began his departure. However, he was soon stopped by his wife once more.

"Wait! Ike, I just thought of something! Maybe we can send a smoke signal!"

"That _would_ work," Ike replied as he turned around again. "But considering our location, anyone who sees it would probably think it's just a normal campfire."

"Oh, yeah… Well, it was an idea. Anyway, be careful and don't take too long out there."

Ike merely responded with a smile and a thumbs-up as he exited the cave without further interruption. Elincia then dug into the bag still attached to the horse and produced a sandwich containing cheese and beef slices. She munched on it hungrily as she watched the water gradually fill the pit her husband had fallen into. And also like Ike, Elincia continued to wonder what caused her to get sick at the beach. All she could tell herself was that the answer would probably come soon enough and that she hoped her food would remain in her stomach this time. She also decided no matter what the cause of her nausea from before, it couldn't be anything serious. If it had been, Ike and Elincia would have probably noticed by now.

Elincia had finished her meal of a sandwich and banana well before Ike's return, and was mildly startled at just how quickly she had done so, but she still stomached it by the time he did come back, thankfully enough. Her husband walked back into the cave about half an hour later with two large heaps of wood, one preciously balanced over each of his shoulders. He certainly wasted no time when running an errand, that was for sure. Elincia smiled as she approached Ike lovingly.

"Wow, Ike! You're even stronger than I thought you were!"

"Heh, well, these muscles aren't just for show, you know!" Ike happily replied as he set down the wood and flexed his right bicep.

"Hee hee, that's definitely true."

Ike merely smiled as he turned his attention to their 'swimming pool.'

"Ah, hey. It's just about filled up. I'll plug the crack now." With that, he plucked a medium-sized rock sitting near the horse and plopped it into the water. From the top, Ike was able to see the crack at the bottom from the top of the pit due to how clear the water had been, allowing him to accurately wedge the rock into the newly formed crack. The water flowed into the pit no more.

"You know, I just had another idea," Ike went on. "If I put the lantern in the water, we could have a man-made hot spring!"

"Yeah! We'll still have a vacation after all!" Elincia added excitedly. With that, Ike ignited the lantern and then set it in the water. Deciding not to risk the lantern sinking and become uselessly soaked, he removed his sheathed sword, Ettard, from the horse's saddle and laid it to one side of the pool and then hung the lantern from just above its hilt. The glass cover completely surrounded the wick, which enabled it to work even half-submerged in water. After using another heavy rock to secure Ettard so that neither it nor the lantern would topple in with the couple, Ike nodded approval and watched as the lantern's heat warmed the pool. In no time at all, the water became bubbly, and the couple stepped comfortably into their self-created hot spring after removing their damp clothes from over their swimwear. It was just deep enough for both of them to sit down inside. Ike then removed the lantern to conserve the oil, as well as to light the fire later on. He leaned back against the wall of the water-filled pit and put an arm around Elincia, whom was equally comfortable.

"Ike, this vacation turned out even better than I hoped," Elincia gushed happily, craning up to kiss him. "This feels so romantic!"

"It sure does," Ike agreed, pressing his lips to her collarbone and sighing contently. "Just be careful not to bump the rock or the lantern."

"Of course. You know though…"

"Hm?"

"I don't even want to wear my swimsuit in this water. It feels so nice…"

Normally, especially after having spent so much time as a leader, Ike was mature far beyond his years; but, the imagery that Elincia's words sparked caused him to blush like a bashful teenager.

"Wait, what? Elincia, you're not about to—"

"No, silly. I didn't mean I was actually going to sit in here naked," Elincia countered with a chuckle. "You wouldn't mind if I removed my top though, would you?"

"Heh, I suppose not." By now, Ike had a grin on his face. He'd already had certain moments with Elincia before and this was no different right down to his mild bashfulness. He could still be a bit shy around her at times, especially in moments like this, since he was still enthralled by her charms and still amazed that she loved him the way he loved her. Still, there was no way he could resist. It wasn't like anyone was around to object to it either, if they even wanted to. Elincia turned around to face the wall of the pit and untied her top, laying it on the ground nearby afterward. She remained facing the pit's wall, her chest against the warmed rock.

"To be honest, Ike, we _were_ supposed to wash up after we returned to the castle, you know," Elincia pointed out. "I mean we get sweaty and stinky out there in that heat. Guess we'll have to wait longer for that though, eh?"

"Yeah, true. I just hope I don't bother you with my body odors. I have heard men tend to smell worse than women after getting sweaty and all."

"Maybe, but you smell just fine right now." Elincia couldn't prevent a flirty smile from crossing her features. She almost instantly slid over to Ike and let her arms curl around his neck.

"I wouldn't want to be this close to you if you didn't," she went on.

"You're really pushing me, aren't you?" Ike guessed as he navigated his hands around his wife's waist.

"Oh come on, I just want to savor the romantic moment a little."

"Of course." With that, Ike met his lips with Elincia's and pulled her close. Though he couldn't see it, he could feel her bare breasts pressing against his chest and he didn't mind it at all. The couple soon forgot they were even trapped on the mountain and focused on nothing but making the best of their situation. No matter how long they had to remain in the cave, they would get through it together and eventually return home. Within the next several seconds, however, Elincia found herself pulling away from her husband and brought a hand to her stomach and an arm to her chest.

"Oh…urp…not now…" Before Ike could respond, Elincia quickly pulled herself out of the water and dashed out of the cave, her arms covering her still-naked chest.

"Oh please…" Ike begged, bringing a hand to his face. "Now I _know_ I'm going to be sick too…"

It only took another minute for Elincia to begin emptying her stomach once more. It was a good thing it had begun getting dark outside, as that made it difficult for anyone nearby to tell Elincia was half naked and puking her guts out over the side of the cliff. Two times Ike could make out the sounds of her body forcing her half-digested lunch out of her stomach. Ike settled back into the homemade hot spring, half worried about Elincia's health and half disgruntled at another romantic moment being interrupted by her inexplicable illness. The third sound, however, blew both thoughts clear out of his head. Instead of what was meant to be more retching, Ike heard a long, almost deafening belch that was loud enough to echo through the cave. After a stretching second of shock at what he'd just heard, Ike was laughing just as loudly and slamming his fist against the ground near him. Elincia reentered the cave soon after, her arms still clasped over her chest both to protect her modesty and to convey her irritation. She shot a glare at her laughter-struck husband before speaking.

"That's not very funny, Ike!"

Ike only continued to laugh with his face buried in his wet arm on the edge of the pit in response for the next moment or two, even though his sides began to ache.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" he finally gasped out, trying to hold back his laughter. "I just couldn't help it. You should be proud of yourself though, Elincia. It's normally quite difficult to make me laugh at all, let alone burst like that."

The anger in Elincia's features seemed to ease, but Ike suddenly found himself suspecting that mentioning this to anyone back at the castle would not be wise.

"Hehe, I guess. Oh, by the way, it's getting dark now. You should start the fire."

"Yeah, good idea." Ike didn't hesitate to lift himself out of the water and grab the lantern. After picking up a handful of wood and more rocks lying around, he set them in the middle of the area. After making sure the rocks completely surrounded the wood, Ike reignited the lantern, removed the glass cover from the lantern's candle, and lit a flame into the wood, which brightened and began warming most of the cave.

"This feels really good too," Elincia commented as she put her top back on, sitting down between the fire and the horse afterward. "Ike, are you going to eat your food?"

"I don't know anymore, to be honest," Ike admitted as he sat down beside his wife.

"That's a first," Elincia teased, but then the reason dawned on her. "Oh… I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Eh, it's not your fault. I doubt you'd want to eat if I threw up too."

"Yeah, true. Still, if this keeps up, I'll be reluctant to eat anymore..."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure it's just—"

Ike's words ended abruptly when his gaze suddenly darted toward the entrance to the cave, his muscles and expression suddenly tensing.

"What?"

"Shush. I thought I heard something." Ike brought a hand up to silence Elincia. He hadn't been hearing things either. The couple soon began making out faint footsteps moving somewhere outside the cave, as well as bushes being rustled and twigs snapping under footfalls.

"I hear it too!" Elincia cried.

"It could be bandits, so I'll go investigate. You stay here in case it happens to be a friendly face and they find you first." Elincia nervously nodded as Ike snatched up Ettard from the side of the pool. He then quietly crept out of the cave and to the edge of the cliff, despite the fact that he still wore nothing but his swimming trunks in the cold of the night. Being barefoot on the rocky cliffs hadn't helped much either. His body shivered, he had to grind his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering, and he winced as the rough, rocky surface of the mountain felt seemed to dig into the soles of his feet, but Ike's concentration was not broken.

Ike paused for a moment, remaining as still and silent as possible, until he heard the sounds of approaching footfalls again, coming from the grove of trees where he'd gotten the fire wood. He approached the woods minutes later, his body still enduring the cold night air and the un-pleasantries of loose rocks and roots underfoot. By then, the footsteps had gotten much louder, whoever it was seemed to know as much about stealth as Kieran knew about being a good sport, that being, nothing. Still gritting his teeth against the cold and a misstep into some briars, Ike moved from bush to bush and tree to tree so that he could get close without being detected.

Before he knew it, Ike caught a glimpse of a tall, masculine silhouette moving through a clearing nearby. The darkness made it impossible to identify the figure, but Ike could easily make out spiked shoulder armor and an axe in the man's right hand. Remembering that bandits were commonly axe wielding ruffians wearing the very same armor, Ike readied himself for a surprise attack. Ike hadn't heard any other ruffians nearby, even though he knew these bandits never worked alone. Perhaps this one was part of a group that had dispersed, seeking prey? If so, and he managed to retain the element of surprise, he would have the advantage despite having no armor to speak of. If there were others, they'd likely hear the fight and come running, but if Ike took down this lone bandit and got under cover again quickly enough, then he could assess their strength when they arrived and determine if he could take them alone or if it would be better to get Elincia and run.

_Wow, I actually learned something from Soren!_

He instantly vaulted over a set of bushes concealing him and grabbed the man by the neck.

"End of the line, whoever you are!" Ike blurted angrily as he tackled the man and pointed Ettard's blade right at his throat, purposefully shouting so that he could lure in any other bandits discover what he was up against.

"AAAAH!" the man bellowed. "WHAT THE HELL—?"

"Huh? That voice…" Ike replied, halting his attack. "Boyd?"

"Ike?" Boyd replied, his anger still considerable. "Ike! You idiot! Get off me!"

"Whoa, geez, I'm really sorry," Ike quickly apologized and helped Boyd to his feet. "I thought you were a bandit."

"Well, I'm not. And why in blazes are you half naked?"

Ike glared and folded his arms before replying.

"I'm wearing swimming trunks, you moron!"

"…Oh. Well anyway, I'm glad to see you, but I was hoping for a more civil greeting."

"Likewise. Where'd you come from anyway? The Greil Mercenaries fort is practically on the other side of the country."

"Yeah, I know. See, everyone at the castle noticed you and Queen Elincia hadn't returned when you should have. They got worried and sent Oscar and Kieran to find you. I happened to be visiting Oscar at the time, so I volunteered to go along."

"Ah. Where are they now? We need to go home because Elincia seems to be sick."

"What? That's not good. I'll go find the others quickly. You should tell her we're here and get ready to leave. Where is she?"

"The cave up there is where we've been staying. Our only path home was blocked by a landslide. We've been stuck here since." Ike pointed to the path above the one that used to lead to Melior.

"Dang. Alright, then the guys and I will meet you there."

Ike agreed to the plan and quickly departed the woods, eager to rejoin Elincia, get out of the cold, and get the painful thorns out of his feet. Finally, friendly faces found them, although how Boyd, Oscar, and Kieran had managed to reach their location was still a mystery to Ike. He decided to inquire about it once they joined him and Elincia. Was there another path leading inland after all? Or was one of the known paths already open again? Whatever the case, Ike knew he'd receive the answer soon enough as he finally reentered the warm cave before he could risk getting frostbite or some other problem related to being in cold weather for too long.

"Elincia! Pack your things! We're going home!" Ike announced with a smile, seating himself and working on removing the briars that had accompanied him.

"Really? Who was that out there?" Elincia excitedly inquired, standing up from warming herself by the fire. "Goodness, you're bleeding!"

"Oh, so I am. Don't worry though, a little gauze and a vulnerary and I'll be good as new. I had a run in with a briar bush while I was out there. Those noises though, it was Boyd. And according to him, Oscar and Kieran are close by somewhere too. They'll explain everything once they meet us here."

"Oh, that's wonderful. Let's hurry!"

With that, the couple didn't hesitate to throw some of the water onto the fire, put their clothes back on over their swimwear, and ready the horse for departure. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to spend much longer in the wilderness. It was all up to Boyd, if he could find the others quickly and did, in fact, have a way back to Melior. Once Ike relit the lantern and sheathed Ettard, the couple was set. They led the horse outside of the cave and Ike held the lantern aloft to allow the others to find them easily. Ike kept an arm around Elincia to keep her as warm as possible while they waited.

"Brr…Ike, how in Crimea did you take this? It's so cold!" Elincia chattered a few moments later.

"I've been asking myself the same question, actually. Guess all the moving around I do as a mercenary kinda gave me a strong tolerance to the weather," Ike replied with a shrug.

"You're still doing that? Ike, you know very well that you no longer have to do mercenary work for a living if you're married to me."

"I know. That's why it's a side job like Oscar makes it. Elincia, I wouldn't care if I married the richest girl in the world. Nothing would ever make me give up mercenary work in any way."

"Hee hee, typical Ike."

"Oh be quiet. I'm allowed to enjoy taking out local bandits for people on my free time, aren't I?"

Elincia couldn't prevent a smile from crossing her features.

"Indeed you are. Maybe that should be our next vacation; if we ever get one, that is. I think we'd both enjoy seeing the Greil Mercenaries again, and maybe I can join in on your fun."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

With that, a silence befell the pair as they continued to listen for the arrival of their friends. And, fortunately, their wait was brief. The sounds of hooves beating the hard rocky ground began to echo, slowly growing louder with each passing second. Before long, familiar voices could be heard engaging in conversation and Ike and Elincia spotted the silhouettes of three men and two horses on a path down below. Since the pair knew them all too well, it was easy to tell who was who. Boyd was sharing Oscar's mount, as he usually did, while Kieran trotted by their side.

"Boyd, are you sure this is the right way?" Oscar's voice inquired.

"For the umpteenth time, yes! Ike said he and Queen Elincia were right up there somewhere after I found him! This is no joke, Oscar!" Boyd insisted, pointing a finger towards Ike and Elincia's general location above.

"You mean he found you, Mister False Bandit," Kieran teased with a punchy smile.

"Shut up! It was an honest mistake!"

"Of course, you bull-headed idiot who is kin to the squinty eyed coward known as Oscar. I can only hope the youngest brother has some redemptive qualities."

"Naw, he's just a whiny peewee...wait a minute! Who are you calling an idiot?"

"Come on, you guys, don't start a fight now," Oscar interjected with a sigh.

Ike and Elincia couldn't help but laugh at this humorous moment before calling out to them. Though Ike appreciated Boyd defending him, he definitely hoped he wouldn't constantly be teased. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for an ongoing joke about his mistaking Boyd for a ruffian, especially if it was a ridiculous nickname like 'False Bandit.' In fact, Ike knew exactly how he could return the hot-headed warrior's favor.

"Hey, Oscar! You can rest easy! Boyd's being honest this time!"

"What do you mean 'this time?" Boyd shot back.

"Boyd, everyone knows you like to fib to get out of trouble sometimes," Oscar pointed out.

"What? Well…okay, fine, I'll admit to that, but I'd absolutely never lie about something like this!"

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. Sorry."

Within the next few minutes, the group was gathered outside of the cave. Two lanterns lit their way in the dark as they exchanged greetings.

"Your majesty, it oh so relieves me to see you and General Ike safe and sound!" Kieran blurted uncontrollably with a smile.

"Of course, Kieran," Elincia replied, having known the energetic knight well enough to predict his flamboyant response.

"Yeah, though I am pretty hungry right about now," Ike added as the group started back down the mountain.

"Ha, when are you not, Ike?" Oscar retorted with a chuckle.

"Hey, for your information, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!"

"Seriously?" Boyd inquired, his eyebrows shooting up to the edge of his headband. "That's news to me."

"I told you Elincia got sick, remember?"

"Ah, right."

"What?" Oscar blurted, considering taking back his joke.

"Yeah, Elincia and I left the beach early because of that," Ike explained. "Also, I don't think anyone would be in the mood to eat if they've been watching or hearing someone puke their guts out."

"Oh, alas! Her majesty isn't getting the flu, is she?" Kieran worriedly inquired.

"No idea. If this continues though, she's going straight to the royal physician. Right, Elincia?"

"Yeah, I suppose it's for the best," Elincia agreed. "Right now, though, we ought to focus on getting home, 'mkay?"

"Of course. Which reminds me, how did you guys get over here?" Ike inquired, sill curious about the matter. "And for that record, why didn't Marcia look for us instead? No offense, but she'd have probably found us sooner."

"Her poor Pegasus injured her ankle in training earlier," Kieran explained. "So Oscar, Boyd, and I heroically went instead. Well, _I_ went heroically; I can't vouch for my traveling companions here."

"Oh, don't start..." Oscar tried to interject, but Boyd cut him off.

"Hey, at least I don't carve myself like a turkey with those whacked out swings you do!"

Ike shook his head at the quarreling hotheads and then Oscar a sympathetic glance.

"Next time, I'll bring Rolf instead," Oscar grumbled. "Getting back on topic though, we discovered the mountain paths had all become impassable, which likely explained why you hadn't returned."

The mildly irritated, but still collected young knight went on to explain that after convincing the people from several nearby villages to help, they worked to break through the nearest path they could reach. The job took barely two hours, an impressive feat considering it might've otherwise taken half a day, but with nearly entire villages picking away at the rock with pick axes instead of the usual small group of laborers, it was finished by dark. The path had even become wider in the end due to how much rock had been chipped away. Afterwards, the trio split up to cover more ground.

"Ah, makes sense," Ike commented. "Well, let's not keep the others waiting longer than they need!"


	3. Part 3: A Pleasant Surprise

Part 3: A Pleasant Surprise

After finally arriving at Castle Crimea, exhausted from both the late hour and their travels, Ike, Elincia, and the others went straight to bed. Boyd was even allowed to spend the night due to it having been far too late for him to return to the Greil Mercenaries' fort, especially alone. A peerless warrior though he was, it was still too dangerous to travel such a distance at night without company. It would've been very easy to get lost in the darkness and wild animals lurked about in the trees and underbrush. Ike, before falling asleep, once more contemplated the events relating to Elincia's sudden illness. He noticed that during the trip, his wife seemed to be calm and content the entire way, despite the weather being cold and harsh. Even he, someone who was fairly used to such chill by now, was bothered by it. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Ike and Elincia pulled through together instead of alone, but whatever the case, it still seemed strange.

Doing his best not to worry, Ike dozed off within the next few minutes. It wasn't long, however, before images began appearing in his head. He found himself seated in the dining hall, feasting on a delicious lunch cooked by Oscar. It was a meal of beef sandwiches, corn, and baked beans. Elincia was sitting next to him while Geoffrey, the commander of the Crimean Royal Knights, and Lucia, his older sister, joined them across the table. As always, Oscar had made everything perfectly, at least in Ike's opinion. He and the others happily continued to munch on the delicious meal, Ike eventually filling his empty plate with second helpings, and after that, third helpings. He turned to Oscar, who for some reason just stood there beside him with a soiled, well-used apron over the padded jerkin he normally wore under his armor, and smiled delightfully.

_"Oscar, you never cease to amaze me with your meals!"_

_ "Naturally," _Oscar replied with a wry chuckle. _"And you never cease to amazing me with how quickly you make them disappear."_

More than a few snickers answered Oscar's taunt and, blushing furiously, Ike had been about to retort with a snide comment about Oscar, Tanith and a certain apron with "Kiss the Cook" embroidered on it when something went terribly wrong. Suddenly, Elincia's cheeks bulged, a muffled groan of pain escaped her tightly drawn lips and her hands clutched her stomach. Before she knew it, she was leaning over her chair opposite from Ike and emptying her stomach once again. For some reason, she was unable to stop this time; putrid streams of green, yellow and brown continued to escape her gullet until it created a pool which seemed nearly ankle deep. Geoffrey and Lucia, their chairs flung against the walls in their haste, rushed to her aid. Ike attempted to as well, but somehow, he could not move. Every ounce of his will, every fiber of his being and more, was bent to the task of helping Elincia and yet his body seemed deaf to his commands. His legs would not listen when he demanded he rise to his feet and, when he ordered his arms to send him vaulting upright, they spurned him. No matter how hard he struggled against this bizarre paralysis, however, even with his muscular form, Ike could not break free. Suddenly, Elincia let out a final stream the color of blood, which seemed to boil upon the floor, and became motionless. Ike watched, horrified and stunned with helplessness, but his gaze was drawn to Kieran floating above the table like some wrathful ghost.

_"Why don't you help her, Ike?"_ he demanded.

_"You're her husband for goddess's sake!"_ a floating Boyd added. Oscar, Geoffrey, and Lucia soon followed and Ike found himself surrounded.

_"I'm stuck! I don't know why!"_ he pleaded.

_"Break free with those muscles, then,"_ Oscar replied, his tone a biting command which held none of its customary cheer.

_"You're the only one who can,"_ Lucia added.

_"Lord Renning will not be happy at all if she suffers to death!" _Geoffrey continued, his words very nearly threatening. The specters floated slowly towards him, their voices repeating the words 'help her' over and over, while the blood tinged pool at Ike's feet seemed to boil all the more intensely and draw ever closer to the helpless Elincia. But, try as he might, Ike still could not coax obedience from his mutinous limbs. Everyone's voices continued to lecture him as the floating warriors closed in on their frightened target. They drew closer and spoke louder, until…

"AAAH!"

Ike jerked up from his pillow with a sudden start. His breath was ragged and frantic as his gaze darted about, taking in his surroundings. He was in the royal bedchambers sitting upright under the bed's blanket. Elincia was right next to him, sleeping peacefully, though how she managed to sleep through Ike's bellow, he could not guess. The sun was shining through the windows in the room; the morning was young, but Ike knew he would not go back to sleep after such a dream. He slowed his breathing and heaved a frustrated groan as he buried his face in his hands.

"What is the matter with me…?"

"Hmm…?" Elincia's voice spoke up. Perhaps she was awakened by Ike's shrieking after all.

"Are you alright, Ike?" she continued after turning over to face him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I just had a bad dream is all," Ike assured, but a sickening chord of his dream found a keen echo in the waking world. "…They're right…"

"What? Who's right about what?" Elincia wondered confusedly.

"Ah!" Ike blurted, not realizing he'd spoken aloud. "No one, it's nothing. I realized something, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I think I'm being a terrible husband to you. You might be getting sick and all I did about it was laugh at you in the cave yesterday. I need to help take care of you if you're ill; but even that I can't do by myself."

"Oh, Ike! Don't be ridiculous! You're a wonderful husband and you know it! And besides, there wasn't much you could do at the time anyway!"

"But—"

"And another thing," Elincia continued as she got out of bed and put a robe on over her white nightgown. "I'm absolutely fine! I don't feel ill at all! Now stop whining and get these crazy thoughts out of your head!"

Though he calmly apologized, Ike didn't feel any better. Did Elincia just yell at him for no reason while complimenting him at the same time? Or was Ike still dreaming? No, this was definitely no dream. It was all real, and very strange. People did tend to be cranky in the mornings when they woke up, but not like this. Elincia looked about ready to punch someone in the face.

"Well, are you going to get up or just sit there pouting all day?" she demanded as she approached the door of the room.

"I'm coming…" Ike replied and lazily left the bed. He pulled his dark red shirt on over his bare torso and followed Elincia out of the room. They hadn't taken more than a few steps when Elincia turned around, so suddenly that Ike nearly crashed into her.

"Ike, wait. What am I doing? I shouldn't be acting like this!" she realized, her voice seeming almost panicked, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for yelling…"

"It's alright. I'm sure you didn't mean it," Ike replied and drew her into a hug.

"Thanks." Elincia returned the hug and smiled. After exchanging a kiss with her husband, a small smile formed on Elincia's face, indicating that her prickly mood had gone.

"So, I bet you're hungry," she continued, suddenly looking ravenous herself. "In fact, I think your appetite has somehow rubbed off on me. I feel like I could eat as much as you do in one meal right now."

"Heh, well then, let's go get some breakfast, shall we?" Ike suggested with a smile. Hopefully now, Elincia wouldn't vomit up her food anymore, he decided. It'd been hours since it last occurred, after all.

It didn't take the couple long to reach the dining hall after their small scene. Elincia practically pulled Ike into the room, despite the fact that she didn't have to considering their destination. In fact, Ike usually arrived there before she did. This morning was definitely going differently than usual, he knew. Elincia poked her head into the kitchen and to her pleasure, found Oscar and the other royal chefs already cooking away. Though Oscar's occasional tutoring in the kitchen had improved the skills of the other chefs, both Ike and Elincia still regarded him as the best cook in the castle, and probably the only one who could keep up with Ike's culinary demands, for that matter.

"Ah, Ike and I are just in time! It's great to see you already in here, Oscar!" Elincia happily greeted the knight.

"Well, her majesty is sure cheerful this morning," Oscar replied with a smile as he flipped pancakes on top of the warm brick oven he was using. The other chefs were busily doing the same as well as boiling rice, slicing bread, and frying eggs.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why, but I'm in a great mood today!"

Ike merely scratched his head and raised one eyebrow as he listened to the conversation. _Alright, this is getting weird_, he thought. _ First she bites my head off for no reason, now all of a sudden she's as happy as a kid celebrating their birthday? Talk about a mood swing. I wonder if her episodes from yesterday are related to this…_ Ike was soon so caught up in his thoughts that he actually forgot about eating himself, which was even stranger for him. He quickly snapped himself out of his trance and joined Elincia at the dining table. While he awaited his meal, he silently prayed that the nightmare he had wouldn't come true. Of course, people couldn't randomly float in the air, but it was certainly possible for Elincia to suddenly take ill once again.

Ike kept a close eye on Elincia as the two feasted minutes later. Elincia had claimed she could eat as much as Ike and she proved as good as her word and then some. Whereas Elincia rarely had more than one of Oscar's flapjacks, she instead took several, and each bite was triple stacked. One omelet passed her lips, then so too did a second, along with enough bread to cause several eyebrows to arch perplexedly. Though his appetite did indeed seem to have rubbed off on her somehow, Ike could only be glad his table manners hadn't as well. For the most part, they were fine, but on occasion he would accidentally belch or talk with his mouth full. At certain kinds of parties, he'd likely abandon a few of his manners as well, especially if there were finger foods being served.

Still, Ike knew he had more important things to think about than his table manners. Later on that day, a summit between the monarchs of Tellius was scheduled to discuss the reconstruction after the Goddess War and furthering political and economic ties between the various beorc and laguz nations, and that meant he'd be unable to know what happened until his wife returned. Still, Ike had his concerns, whether she went or not.

"Elincia…" Ike spoke up, breaking the long, chewing punctuated silence. "Are you sure you still want to attend that summit?"

"Of course. I'm the queen, so must go if I'm able," she replied after swallowing a bite of pancake several times thicker than was her custom. "I told you earlier, I feel fine today."

"Right now you do. I'm just worried about what'll happen later. What if you throw up again during the summit? I don't know much about politics, but I can't picture that helping things. Also, these mood swings you're starting to have are making me nervous. It wouldn't be very pleasant if you started yelling for no reason in the middle of the discussion. Especially if it were directed at Micaiah. She'd blame it on me…"

"Oh, you're worrying too much. Still, you do make a good point. I hate it when she accuses you of being a bad husband. You'd think after what you did against Ashera, she'd have a little more respect for you."

"Exactly. Honestly, I don't think she dislikes me as much as she probably did before that war, but yeah."

"Agreed. Anyway, another reason I should go, is that if I didn't, you'd have to go in my place and I know you'd just get confused and bored to death talking about currency exchange rates and imports and exports and shipping fees and whatnot."

"Yeah, but I'd still do it for you if you were too sick," Ike affirmed, though inwardly cringing at what Elincia described. "I'd be proving Micaiah right if I didn't."

Elincia put her utensils down and folded her arms.

"Yeah, and it's good that I'm not too sick. Ike, really, do you honestly think I might be more ill than I believe?"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that I'd feel better if you went to the royal physician anyway. I don't think anything is really _wrong_ with you, but you've been acting kinda weird lately. First you start throwing up all of a sudden, then you have these mood swings, and then an appetite bigger than mine. And that last one is really saying something."

"Yeah, I have to admit, I'm probably going to be in the mood for seconds this time."

Somehow, Ike kept his face from faulting in surprise at her words.

"So, are you going to go see him?" he inquired when he recovered his voice.

"I'll take it into consideration. I mean, for all we know, I could be just fine for the rest of the day. I'd hate to get people worried over nothing."

"I guess so."

With that, silence fell over the couple for about three seconds, and then Elincia was out of her chair. As both Ike and Elincia expected, the young queen practically begged Oscar for second helpings. She wasn't sure why, but Elincia admitted to having a strange craving for pancakes and eggs that morning. It was a complete coincidence that Oscar and the other royal chefs had been preparing them, though the unflappable Oscar alone seemed unsurprised by her request. Whether this scenario was related to the other incidents or his appetite simply rubbeing off on his wife, Ike could not be sure now. Oscar himself couldn't help but agree that Elincia's behavior had been a little strange lately as well.

"It's probably nothing to worry about, though," he commented with his ever-present smile. "Just keep your chin up."

"Of course. Right, Ike?" Elincia replied, eyeing Ike for the appropriate response.

Ike merely sighed.

"I'll try."

Even after he emptied his plate, Ike remained in his seat, half to keep Elincia company, and half to keep an eye on her in case she vomited again. His thoughts about what had been going on weighed upon his mind so heavily that he no longer had an appetite, which was startling in and of itself. He wasn't interested in filling his plate up again like he usually did; instead, he watched as Elincia downed her portion and contentedly rubbed her stomach, an action which had Ike poised incase her meal didn't stay in there this time. This day was different than normal, that was for sure, but Ike didn't care. He just wanted to know for sure that Elincia wasn't really getting ill or already was sick. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the dining hall doors opened once more to reveal Geoffrey and Lucia. Elincia happily greeted them.

"Hey, where've you two been?"

"Oh, just getting in some early morning training before breakfast," Geoffrey replied. "After yesterday, it definitely wouldn't hurt to be extra prepared for emergencies."

"Oh come now, Geoffrey. Ike and I were just delayed coming home, we weren't attacked by anyone," Elincia pointed out. "The only real casualty was our vacation; and that we managed to salvage...after a fashion."

"True, but you could've been in a worse predicament easily enough."

"That being said, don't forget you were a little sick too," Lucia added. "If you had gotten ill enough, you might've been unable to travel."

"Ah… True," Elincia admitted.

"Yeah, anyway, let's talk about something positive," Geoffrey continued. "And while we're at it, Oscar, I command you to whip up some more pancakes and eggs!"

"Whoa, wait a second there, General, now you're allowed to order me to cook for you?" Oscar retorted with his hands on his hips and raising one eyebrow.

"He's kidding, Oscar," Lucia replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, you know that," Geoffrey chuckled. "We are both hungry after training though, and you make the best food I've ever tasted."

"Heh, yeah, I guess," Oscar agreed and returned to the kitchen.

"Well, I'm finally getting full here," Elincia spoke up seconds later after her plate became empty once more. "Ike and I have duties to attend to, so we'll talk some more later, alright?"

"Sure, any time, your majesty," Lucia replied with a smile.

With that, Ike was shaken out of his trance. He had forgotten Boyd's invitation from the previous night to go do mercenary work with the Greil Mercenaries again that day. Doing so meant he'd be unable to watch Elincia whether she went to the summit or not. Unknown groups of bandits had landed in Port Toha the previous day and began attacking villages between there and Melior as well as Port Toha itself. According to Boyd, it was unknown where these bandits came from, but they currently had a fortified encampment somewhere south of the Greil Mercenaries' fort and were seen carrying all kinds of weapons, including bows, swords, lances, axes, and even magic. Their most distinguishing feature, however, was the red tattoo in the shape of a claw painted on their arms. Elincia wished she could join Ike in the mission to bring them down, but knew the meeting with the other Tellius monarchs had to come first.

"Ah, right. We need to go get ready, huh?" Ike remembered. "The summit is in a few hours and Boyd, Oscar, and I are supposed to meet the other Greil Mercenaries at around the same time."

"Exactly," Elincia confirmed.

Naturally, summits such as these involved a great deal, that is to say, a stifling amount of ceremony and preparation. However, on top of that, there was the matter of reaching the desired location and preparing it for the event if necessary. The locations of the meetings between the Tellius monarchs varied with each occasion. This time, it was to be held in Begnion's palace of the Mainal Cathedral, in the capital of Sienne. On horseback, the distance between it and Castle Crimea was great, as it required going through Daein due to the impassable mountains that separated Crimea from Begnion. A flight on Gwydion would reduce the time it would take to get there by more than half, though Ike was leery about the aged Pegasus' ability to make such a journey. The Greil Mercenaries' fort was a good few hours away on horseback as well; and Ike would've been thrilled to have the summit there rather than the nightmarishly gaudy Mainal Cathedral.

Since Elincia knew Ike would have to depart first, she let him change in the bedchambers before she did. To Ike, it felt great to wear some of his old clothes again along with his signature head band instead of the handsome but far less comfortable uniform he'd worn as general of the Crimean Army. In fact, he always liked wearing head bands, as he thought they made him look tougher. He was the only one he knew that wore this particular kind of head band as well. Once Ike finished by strapping Ettard to his back, he left the room and awaited Boyd and Oscar. Boyd hadn't yet made an appearance at all that morning, however, which told Ike that he probably got lazy and slept in again. Ever since Ike's father, Greil, had died, Boyd's slightly lazy nature had shown a little more often, mainly because Ike wasn't as strict a commander as his father.

Ike still had thoughts of Elincia's strange affliction as he stood in the hall outside the bedchambers. He still felt he needed to watch over Elincia in case she exhibited more strange behavior or signs of illness. Elincia herself was busily choosing her attire for the summit. Her normal outfit was her white surcoat, matching leggings and boots, her transculent cape, and if necessarily, her white and gold armor. However, as she examined the armor, a curious sensation came over her. Memories, some from the Mad King's War and some from the Goddess War, flitted before her mind's eye. In particular, she saw the blood-lusting Bertram, heard his low, hissing voice and recalled her horror when she learned that the living machine of murder was her beloved uncle, cruelly altered.

With a stifled sob, and no small amount of confusion as where that rush of emotion had come from, she took a moment to regain her composure and decided on a different, and slightly more formal, outfit. Elincia started to pull her night gown over her head when she suddenly felt an odd wetness between her thighs. She quickly threw off the night gown, only to gasp at the sight before her.

"Oh! Dear me!" she cried loudly enough for Ike to hear it and nearly jump. _W-Why is there blood down here? I just got off my cycle last week…_

"Elincia! What's the matter? Are you alright?" Ike exclaimed, knocking on the door.

"Oh! Yeah, I-I'm fine! Go get Lucia for me! Please!"

"Are you sure? Can't I help?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't think there's anything you can do, Ike! Just get Lucia!"

"…Alright, I'll be back soon!"

Wondering what could've possibly gone wrong to make Elincia think Ike couldn't help her, and fighting down both chagrin and alarm at the notion, the young part-time mercenary quickly raced down to the lower level in hopes Lucia and Geoffrey were still in the dining hall. As he approached the room, Ike began to think maybe his wife was having a girl problem this time around and felt it'd be inappropriate for him to intervene.

_Yeah, keep rationalizing,_ his mind quipped sarcastically. _Get moving!_

Whatever the case, Ike did so and barged through the doors of the dining hall seconds later. To his relief, he found both Lucia and her brother at the table with Oscar and Boyd.

"Ike! What's the rush? You look like you've been running the whole length of the castle," Geoffrey pointed out as Ike panted and caught his breath.

"Lucia… Elincia needs you," Ike reported between breaths. "Like, right now."

"Oh? What's the matter? Is she alright?" Lucia worriedly inquired.

"She said she was, but from the way she spoke to me, it sounded urgent."

"Oh! Then I'll go up there immediately!"

"I'm going with you. I don't want to sit around worrying anymore."

With that, the two hurried back to the upper floor. Ike was sure now that it had to be a womanly problem, though he couldn't help but suspect otherwise. While he knew they weren't anything men should talk about, Ike didn't want Elincia to feel obligated to hide these situations from him if they were serious and no one else was around to help. Whatever the case, he had to know if Elincia was really alright. He politely waited out in the hall while Lucia entered and tended to her. However, Ike couldn't remain still. He paced back and forth worriedly and stopped once in awhile to tap his foot on the floor while the rest of him fidgeted uncontrollably. Much to his relief, both Lucia and Elincia emerged only minutes later, Elincia back in her night gown.

"Are you sure you're alright, Elincia?" Ike immediately inquired. "I'm really curious about what happened this time. I know I'm a guy, but I don't mind if it's a girl problem. As your husband, I feel I should know these things. You can tell me."

"But Ike, I don't know…"

"Trust me. I promise I won't ever tell anyone."

"Alright, but no one except us three can know, not even my lord uncle or Geoffrey."

"Of course."

"Okay. I started bleeding between my legs," Elincia quickly revealed, her cheeks turning pink.

"Wha—? I thought women did that like every month or so or something like that," Ike replied, raising one eyebrow and trying to hide his abashment.

"Yeah, but the last time before today was only a week ago."

"Oh…"

Before anyone could get in another word, Elincia began to stagger forward. For some reason, her body had begun to feel fatigued and her eyelids gradually grew heavy. Before she knew it, Elincia fell into Ike's arms.

"Ahh…"

"Elincia? What now?" Ike inquired.

"I feel so tired…" Elincia faintly responded.

"Alright, that does it. You're going to the royal physician. And I'll go to the summit in your place."

"But what about…the Greil Mercenaries…?" Elincia pointed out through a yawn.

"Oscar and Boyd will just have to go without me and tell the others I couldn't come."

"Okay… Yeah, I'd better go see the royal physician…"

"I'll bring you there, your majesty," Lucia offered. "Then I'll let the guys know you're unable to join them, alright Ike?"

"Works for me," Ike agreed.

With that, Ike sighed and retreated into the bedchambers to change his clothes again. He couldn't go to the summit in his mercenary attire, after all, and would have to switch to his general's uniform. Though he knew it'd feel weird to be riding Elincia's Pegasus, and that some people would get quite a laugh out of the sight, Ike knew he would have to use Gwydion if he was to make it to the summit on time. Being late was not an option, as it would likely worry the other monarchs about Elincia's well-being. Ike hurriedly threw on his uniform and tied his formal head band around his head for the finishing touch. Ettard remained strapped to his back as he raced out of the room and headed for the royal stables where Gwydion was kept.

Elincia's Pegasus, despite his advancing years and several hints of arthritis setting in, managed to get Ike to Sienne safely, but his odd choice in transportation had attracted many odd looks and more than a few snickers. Ike, in his customary show of diplomacy, gave those who snickered a glare that promised broken bones and they promptly shut up. Ike's frustration, however, was far from assuaged. Aside from having to dress so formally, Lucia had insisted that a number of the medals he'd been awarded during the wars be pinned on his garb. This had been unpleasant, both because he had so many and because he usually ending up sticking himself with the pins when he tried to arrange them. Aside from the paired Medals of Honor he'd received, the first for slaying Ashnard and the other for defeating Ashera, he also wore several other from Begnion and the Laguz nations; also Lucia's idea as a sign of respect since he'd be seated across from the same people who gave them to him in the first place.

And, of course, there was Mainal Cathedral itself. Though Sanaki had been working to reshape the corrupt, class heavy government of Begnion, there was no hiding the overdone decadence of the Apostle's palace. Worse still, every heavy footstep Ike made and every long clinking made by his jangling medals echoed all over the marble edifice deafeningly. So, grouchily, he made his way to the summit with people in his wake wondering who'd let in that herd of belled cattle.

The next few hours felt like they'd last forever as Ike endured the un-pleasantries which attending the summit placed on him after reporting his reasoning for substituting for Elincia. He wasn't especially interested in topics such as trade routes, currency exchange rates, and other such political and economic matters, nor did he even know much about them to begin with. As much as he attempted to truly participate and speak with the other Tellius monarchs, it proved to be more difficult than any battle he ever fought in his life. Micaiah got into an argument with Sanaki over shipping and trading fees. Though it seemed natural due to the fact that the two happened to be sisters and feuding siblings wasn't an uncommon occurrence. Ike had done so with Mist often enough and Boyd and Rolf stirred each other up rather frequently; but these squabbles seemed downright civil compared to the quarrel Ike was now witnessing. Tibarn, ruler of the united laguz bird tribes in Phoenicis and Kilvas, broke up the quarreling rulers much to Ike's pleasure, though there wasn't much pleasure to look forward to in the first place.

Ike especially shuddered at the thought of Skrimir's participation at the summit. It turned out that Caineghis chose to let his nephew go in his place in order to learn more about ruling a country and political dealings with his kingdom's neighbors, though why Skrimir had to be named heir to the Gallian throne in the first place was beyond Ike's understanding. Skrimir himself didn't seem too pleased with the idea of being at the summit either, which only made things worse. He was known to care little for details in any kind of discussion and was the kind of person who'd fight now and ask questions later, not unlike Ike himself. Though Skrimir had lightened up somewhat thanks to Soren's tactical briefings during the war as well as Ranulf's guidance, it wasn't enough to improve Ike's mood. The hot-headed lion constantly wanted to simply get straight to the point and not waste time on "useless details."

"Hey Ike, you've had some experience with this feline brute," Micaiah opined, shaking Ike from his dying-of-boredom trance. "Why don't you make yourself useful for once and knock some sense into him?"

"Geez… First of all, that was my tactician who 'knocked some sense into him," Ike protested. "Second, even if it had been me, it apparently wasn't good enough, so what do you expect me to accomplish?"

"You know, that's exactly why I wonder what Elincia sees in you as a prince consort," Micaiah shot back. "You may be good on a battlefield, but you can't do anything else besides!"

"Oh for the love of…" Ike fumed, bringing his head to the table. _Somebody just shoot me in the head._

"Come on, Micaiah, leave him alone," Kurthnaga stepped in. "I think Ike does his job very well for someone not born into nobility."

"Hmph, fine," Micaiah gave in.

_Thank you_, Ike thought, very glad Kurthnaga wasn't as hard headed as his late father. Fortunately, he was able to endure the remainder of the meeting, which thankfully wasn't long. Once reasonable agreements on the items for consideration had finally been reached, Ike nearly gleefully fled the conference room. He was so eager not only to escape Micaiah and Skrimir, but to return to Elincia and receive the royal physician's results as well, that it took all his discipline not to run for the door and shove aside anyone who got in the way. Hopefully, it wouldn't be much longer before he knew whether or not he truly had to be concerned.

"Geoffrey, can you believe it?" Lucia exclaimed as the pair was headed downstairs away from the royal bedchambers. "Everything her majesty's been going through and the answer was as simple as that!"

"Yeah, Ike's going to go through the ceiling when he finds out," Geoffrey agreed. "And speaking of which, he should be back soon. I can't wait to see his reaction."

"Heh, knowing him, it ought to be pretty funny. I wish her majesty could tell him herself, but she needs to rest…"

"True, but at least we get to see Ike explode, hehe."

Lucia couldn't help but giggle as the pair arrived in the main hall to await Ike's arrival. Though they also knew the summit probably bored him to death and that Micaiah's haughtiness likely did little to make things any better, they could only hope Ike wasn't in too bad of a mood for them to give him their news. Although the royal physician himself had unfortunately been absent for awhile, as he left a note saying a few of his tools needed to be replaced, and Elincia, even more flabbergasted at his findings, eventually dozed off while she and Lucia awaited his return, the examination had still gone smoothly and without incident beyond the discovery it had yielded. Still, if anything or anyone at the summit riled Ike up enough, he could simply leave saying nothing to Geoffrey and Lucia except 'I don't want to talk right now,' all the while glaring at them as if he'd knock their teeth out if they pressed him further.

Thankfully, this seemed unlikely since Ike was already concerned for his wife's well-being when he left. And concerned he still seemed to be when he finally came through the front doors of the castle. His tunic, cape, and hair were dripping wet and his face was covered in enough rainwater and sweat for a man to drown in. Lucia noted, with some concern, that Ike's medals would need a quite a bit of polishing before his next public appearance, but decided not to mention this and risk him throwing the whole set at her. Lucia and Geoffrey quickly approached the general as he began panting.

"Geez, did you have to run, Ike?" Geoffrey inquired.

"Kind of, yes. To get out of the pouring rain, to get Gwydion under a roof, and to see Elincia," Ike replied between pants.

"Oh dear… Now I'm really glad her majesty didn't go to that summit. She'd have had trouble riding through this weather," Lucia realized when she peered out the window. Rain was pouring down harder than a hail of diamonds and faint claps of thunder echoed every few minutes.

"Yeah, I feel bad for Gwydion too," Ike added. "At his age, that flight had to be rough on him. I'm alright, though. I just want to know about Elincia. Where is she?"

"She's upstairs resting," Geoffrey replied as Ike quickly began bolting through the chamber. "But hey, wait a second! We need to talk first!"

"If she's in bed, doesn't that mean she's ill?" Ike protested, his tone a bit testy. "I want to see if I can do anything for her!"

"Ike, it's not that!" Lucia countered, letting a wry grin touch her features. "You're going to be a father!"

With that, Ike suddenly halted in his tracks. He turned around as his eyebrows shot up to his hairline.

"…Say what?"

"Elincia's pregnant, Ike," Geoffrey replied. "Don't tell me this doesn't make you happy!"

"N-No, I just don't know what to say. Is…Is this true?" Ike replied, so tongue-tied with delight that he could barely form a sentence.

"Of course it is, Ike! We'd never lie to you about something like this! It's exciting!" Lucia confirmed. "And we want to congratulate you both!"

"Wow… Heh… I don't believe it…" Ike uttered, a lopsided smile forming on his face. "Elincia's pregnant. I'm going to be a father… I'm freaking going to be a father! YAHOO!"

With that, the ecstatic general bolted through the room towards the royal bedchambers, his joyous hollering echoing for moments on in with even more of a din than his trek through Mainal Cathedral. Geoffrey brought his hands to his hips and turned to his sister with a smile on his face.

"See, what'd I tell you? Absolutely priceless."

Lucia couldn't disagree with this and both soon burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Ike had to bring himself to a halt and catch his breath once more before paying a visit to the weary Elincia. When he could no longer hold out, he entered the royal bedchambers as quietly as he could, given his excited state. Ike hoped Elincia was just as excited as he was about the big news and had doubts that she'd be unhappy at all. A child, especially the very first one, was one of the most joyful experiences couples could go through, after all. Elincia, in Ike's opinion, was also the perfect type to love being a mother and caring for children. Aside from her skills at the things all mothers commonly did, such as cooking, cleaning, sewing and, of course, her peerless healing, she was also kind, patient and loving to a fault. Ike could even now picture Elincia knitting a rough-and-tumble shirt and breeches for their child while Ike set a training sword in their child's hands and talked him, or her, through the motions of slashing and thrusting. With new, happy thoughts in his mind, Ike quietly called to his wife. She stirred from her doze, let out a less-than-ladylike yawn and gave a drowsy smile to her husband.

"Ike? Oh, I'm glad you've returned!" Elincia greeted sleepily, but happiness outshining her fatigue. "Was the summit okay for you?" Ike was thankful she was awake.

"Well, Micaiah treated me like dirt again and I wish Skrimir hadn't come in place of Caineghis, but other than that, I got through it," he reported. "But enough about that, how are you feeling?"

"I'm tired, obviously, but I feel great besides," Elincia assured with a smile. "I was so surprised and glad I went to the royal physician, Ike. We're going to have a baby!"

"Yeah, I heard. It's wonderful. Did the physician say all the incidents were due to this?"

"Yeah, the puking was a thing called morning sickness, which obviously can happen at night as well. Even that bleeding was a pregnancy symptom, though I can't exactly remember what he said that was. Geoffrey and Lucia told you, I'm guessing?"

"Yep. They're as excited as we are."

"That's good to know. Oh! Speaking of telling people, Mist and the others will want to know! Ike, how are we going to tell them?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I can head out there tomorrow and tell them myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Heh, I can already see Mist squealing with excitement about being an aunt. Though we might have to worry about Titania; she'd likely think of the baby as her grandchild since she practically raised me and try to spoil the little one rotten."

Elincia chuckled happily at the notion.

"Yeah, I agree with you there. I also think that if our little one inherits your appetite, I'll be as big as a house by the time I give birth!"

Ike gave a wry smile, rife with boyish mischief.

"Well, remember what you said about my eating habits before we reached the cove and how you were surprised you could fit me through the castle gate?" he asked, his smirk broadening. "What goes around..."

Elincia glared at Ike but, unfortunately, she had the misfortune of having a glare that was much too cute to seem threatening. Besides, Ike could sense that she was playing along and he began muttering something about getting the doors widened and the floors reinforced.

"Oh knock it off!" Elincia shot back, but laughing all the while.

"Hehe, I'm joking, Elincia."

Ike's lips brushed over Elincia's and then his hand went to her belly; she wasn't showing yet but Ike could feel warmth beneath his palm that made them both smile.

"Anyway, when do you want to talk about names and all? Would you prefer a boy or a girl?" Elincia inquired.

"The gender doesn't matter to me as long as it's a healthy baby. As for names, I think that can wait until we've studied up some on parenting."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm sure the royal library will have all the information we'll need. Besides, Titania and my lord uncle did well raising us; so we can ask them also if need be."

"Indeed. Right now, we should just look forward to our first child."

Elincia smiled and nodded approvingly. Ike couldn't help but return the gesture by leaning over the bed and joining his lips with hers once more. Both were glad they had such a blessing to look forward to and that there was truly nothing to worry about at all. Well, except the crying and the diapers, that is, but the two nonetheless were so happy.


End file.
